Titanic Memorial, Belfast City Hall. This marble figure was designed by Sir Thomas Brock, (designer of many well known monuments, including the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace), it depicts Thane, the Goddess of Death. A very fine memorial it was unveiled in 1920.
The sinking of RMS Titanic occurred on the night of the 14/15th of April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage. The ship as every Belfast Boy knows, was built in the great shipyard of Harland and Wolf, by, but not exclusively, the working class men of East Belfast. A great achievement by the master craftsmen of that by gone era.
Attending Primary School in Belfast, a stones throw from, "The Yard", (Colloquial term for the shipyard), we were taught the glory of that achievement, she was the largest ship, she was the fastest ship, she was built by the graft and labour of Belfast men, she was ours, and she was glorious, twas a sad day when she sank. Indeed no one in their right frame of mind could deny any of these statements, indeed it is right and proper that we should remember such a monumental achievement in our history, and that it is my point, we should remember, but we should no cash in on it, as seems to be the fashion in Northern Ireland these days!
I am well aware that it is the centenary year of that cataclysmic event, but I think that there are things going on, quite stupendously insensitive things that really rather annoy me. Firstly, it does not matter that this is the 100th Anniversary, because for as long as I can remember, BBC Newsline, UTV, The Belfast Telegraph, and others, (those listed are the chief protagonists), always, without fail, on a regular basis include some trashy piece of media news relating to the Titanic, and to be frank, people are fed up with it.
Here are some examples-
I know, I know, "this is but one source Noble Knight", I hear you cry, well to be frank, this is only the tip of the ice-berg, (pardon the pun), for you see this deluge infects the whole of the media in Northern Ireland, and I think that it is high time it stopped, I believe that after this year the whole thing should be dropped, although I know that is not going to happen, too much money has been invested in the Titanic regeneration project in Belfast's docklands, but honestly I don't think that it will serve the community that built her any good! Would the money not be better invested in developing apprenticeship schemes in that area for the hearty descendent of the master craftsmen that built her? Rather than empty office suites and "Yuppie" apartments? Obviously not, casing in on a tragedy and filling the coffers of the Irish Tourist board is far more important.
"Oh Noble Knight, it will be good for the economy, think of all those tourists with money to burn", yes quite, but having spoken to tourists who have visited the waste ground where it was built, it seems that it was somewhat an anticlimax for them. "Oh Noble Knight, we will build a museum", yes fair enough but I don't see why there must also be a leisure complex attached to that, what next bouncy icebergs and a slide for children in the shape of the sinking liner? It's sounds fantastical, I know, but I would not put it past the folks of Belfast City Council.
Even worse, the creme de la creme of it all, Dr Phillip Hammond has composed a Requiem Mass for the lost souls of the Titanic, to be performed in Latin in St Anne's Cathedral Belfast, I am a lover of music and I enjoy a Mass, (from time to time, particularly if they are Papal, the Vatican puts on the greatest show on earth as far as I am concerned), but this is ridiculous, why it has to be in Latin, a language that the majority of people who died on the doomed ship, and the people who built the majestic liner, did not speak! I have heard some drivel in my time, but this takes the biscuit, of course I heard the usual self indulgent nonsense on BBC Radio Ulster's "Sunday Sequence", from the artist in question, such rubbish about doing it for the memory of the people. No ! you are, (let's be honest), doing it to sail on the Titanic Cash bonanza, rather like a gravy boat, except it stops more often and you can help yourself as many times as you like to the goodies up for grabs.
So will I buy the CD? No I think I would rather sing a Mariners hymn, "Eternal Father Strong to save", one that was sung on the ship and, "Nearer my God to Thee", non of this "confutatis maledictis" nonsense.
There is a great legacy that we would do well to remember, but not to the gross extent that seems to be going on around us. There are a great many other things that Belfast can offer!
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